First Encounters
by Senna Sylvan
Summary: This is a oneshot of a slightly AU take on the meeting of Kakashi, Rin, and Obito as a team. It's a gift fic for Bienna Baron.


**A/N: This is my first Naruto fic, and I'm not going to pretend that I know much about the canon. I've read many fics from this fandom, I've watched a number of the anime episodes as well as read some of the manga. However, I don't keep up with it, so this will probably be a bit rough. It's a gift fic for Bienna Baron. I hope you enjoy and Merry Christmas for those who celebrate it! :)**

Minato sighed, as he looked down at the sight of his young charge curled up deep in sleep,

relishing the few moments of peace as though, even in sleep, he knew it would not last long. It

was a testament to Kakashi's trust in his sensei that the boy was able to sleep so peacefully despite being on a mission. Minato knew that if there had been anyone else present the boy wouldn't even be able to doze despite orders too. It had taken a long while for Kakashi to reach this level of trust in him, and though Minato loathed the thought, he knew that he would have to take action that might encourage the boy to lose that trust in him.

Minato had been thinking in the recent months, as he saw the students of the academy reaching the time of testing, that 'Kashi was never around children his own age. They were all older than him by at least three or four years, most being six. Furthermore, the Hatake child preferred to spend time among his peers, other chunin, and they were all even older. It worried Minato to see his charge growing farther and farther away from the children he should be running around with. How would Kakashi ever really managed to fit in with Konoha if he didn't have any examples on how he should behave? In terms of his age of course. Kakashi was beyond mature in terms of adult behavior, but it was so far removed from the expected of his peers, it left Kakashi at an awkward position.

It had left Minato at a loss for a couple days after he came to this realization. How could he encourage Kakashi to interact with other children his age? Any suggestion on his part received a disgusted look and a quick dismissal. But on chance he had heard his fellow jounins discussing team assignments and he realized what he could do.

But he knew Kakashi wouldn't be happy about it.

The Sandaime Hokage set down the stack of mission reports he had just received, and Minato had the idea that the elder man was looking at him as though he were crazy.

"Minato-san… I just want to be sure I understood you. You want me to tell the Academy to assign Hatake Kakashi to a genin team. A _genin _team."

Minato nodded, though he could admit the idea was starting to sound a little crazy. "Yes, Hokage-sama."

The Hokage hummed. "Fine." He finally sighed. "As long as you understand that you will only be taking on genin level missions until you're genin move on… or, if the need arises, you leave the two behind when taking on higher level missions."

Minato nodded. "Thank you, Hokage-sama. I understand. I think it will be good for Kakashi to be around people his own age."

The Hokage smiles. "Just as long as he doesn't lose his edge. We can't afford to lose someone like him."

Minato's smile twisted, but he nodded in understanding before leaving.

Kakashi frowned. Minato-sensei had asked him to meet him in front of the bridge this morning, and Kakashi knew that spot was rarely populated due to the fact that it was so far out of the village, and it tended to be too close to the shinobi training grounds for the civilians to pass over too often. **(1) ** But today, this morning, there were two children. Two loud children. Two obvious genin who had no idea what being a ninja was actually about.

Irritating. He hated children. They were loud, obnoxious, and always absolutely sure they knew what they were taking about when the actual equivalent wouldn't fill a rice grain. They didn't have a serious bone in their body, and they didn't understand the need for maturity until it crept up behind them and bit them on the ass.

Regardless, the real question was why were they here now? He frowned. Obviously, they were told to meet their sensei there, but he couldn't recall there being a two man team in recent years. It must have been a poor year at the academy if they couldn't manage to scrape together a three man squad. Well, he had two choices. He could wait here, and trust Minato-sensei would be able to find him, which he had full confidence the older man would, or he could go out and join the genin. There was only one choice.

He stayed in the trees.

Minato fought the urge to let out a sigh when he joined his soon to be group of genin and didn't see Kakashi with them. He couldn't be surprised; he knew how much the young chunin hated interacting with children his age. But there was a small feeling of disappointment, some hope that perhaps Kakashi actually wanted to join his peers, that perhaps this wouldn't be as difficult as he feared.

He should have known that nothing would be so easy.

He glanced at the trees, where he could feel Kakashi hidden, before deciding that it was better to get it over with quickly. He zipped over to Kakashi's spot, and laid a hand on his shoulder. The boy tensed, but that was his only reaction, and Minato knew that the young ninja had known that he was coming before he had arrived. He stifled a smile. "Follow me." He told the younger boy.

Yes… it was better to get it over with quickly.

Kakashi frowned at Minato-sensei's command. It was odd that his sensei didn't tell him his plans, or explain how disappointed he was that Kakashi wasn't at the spot that he was told to be. A sinking feeling formed in his chest, as he took in the sight of his teacher's slightly frowning eyes, and the lack of eye contact. Something was bothering the man, and Kakashi was sure that it had something to do with him.

His suspicions were confirmed when Minato landed in front of the two genin. He restrained a groan as he followed. He just knew where this was going.

Minato-sensei surveyed the two genin silently. The genin didn't notice him and continued to discuss… well, Kakashi didn't know what they were discussing. But it was inane and senseless. He was sure of it.

Finally, the blond man cleared his throat and both the genin jumped. "Thank you." He told them. "Now that I have your attention, I'm your jounen instructor Namikaze Minato. The three of you will introduce yourselves. Kakashi, you go first."

Kakashi scowled. He knew it, and he didn't like it, but there wasn't anything he could do about it. "Hatake Kakashi. Nine years old. Chunin."

Minato-sensei frowned at him, but didn't say anything. The black haired boy opened his mouth to say something but before he could, the girl stepped on his foot hard, and Minato-sensei gave him the _look_ and the boy's mouth snapped closed. Minato-sensei then motioned toward the girl. She stepped forward and smiled.

"My name's Nohara Rin. I'm nine years old and I just became a genin. I like strawberries and collecting shells, but I don't like tsukudani."

Minato-sensei smiled at her reply. "Thank you, Rin-chan. You're next." He motioned to the dark haired boy.

The boy had a huge grin on his face that Kakashi thought made him look stupid. He stepped forward. "My name's Uchiha Obito! I'm nine years old, and I'm a genin. I will definitely become a chunin!"

Kakashi would later claim he couldn't help it, but just at that moment, he coughed.

Obito whirled and glared at him. "Do you think that's funny?"

Kakashi shrugged. "If you were that… impressive, you wouldn't be a genin right now."

The other boy began to turn red. "I am an Uchiha! I graduated a full year early. You bet I'm going to be a chunin! I bet I can do it within the year!"

Kakashi just glanced at him a moment, before dismissing the other boy, and turned to Minato-sensei. "Sensei, how will this work, exactly? Since I'm a chunin, and they're genin."

Obito jumped in before Minato-sensei could respond. "Hey! I'm serious. I'm an Uchiha!"

Minato-sensei rolled his eyes and grinned. "Sorry, Obito. Kakashi can be like that. And Kakashi, it means that you and I will be on genin missions for a while. If they need us specifically, we will do missions separately, but for mission purposes it will be like you are a genin again."

Kakashi resisted the urge to growl. Doing genin missions sucked. But it was his duty.

He nodded, his face a blank mask.

Minato-sensei had a knowing look in his eyes, as he looked over the three of them together. "Well, I suppose that now it's time for the test!" he held up three bells. I want the three of you to get these bells from my by sundown. If you do not succeed, you two will be sent back to the academy, and Kakashi, I will have you doing genin chores for months."

The three younger students shifted.

Minato-sensei grinned.

**A/N: (1) I honestly have no idea about the meeting spot. Just assume it's somewhere he wouldn't expect to see other people. :) All other information was from the naruto wiki, so I have no claims to the validity. naruto. wikia wiki/ Rin_Nohara  
**


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